The Rat's Tale
by LuckyKaz
Summary: The untold story of the Rat Man's life in The Aperture Science Computer Aided Enrichment Center.
1. Chamber 00

I recently bought and completed Portal and MAN. It was amazing. There's not as many fic opportunities for Portal as there are for other fandoms, but I was really itching to write one for it-and then i discovered a fanfic centering around the mysterious Rat Man, which you can read on my favorites. It totally inspired me to write this up, which will be a multi-chaptered fic detailing the Rat Man's entry to The Aperture Science Enrichment Center to his death (Hopefully i'll be able to get that far) Obviously alot of filler had to be put in this for his personality, the state of the Enrichment Center around the time of his being there, etc, etc. I did my best, and I hope you like it. I really enjoy writing for characters like him-so prominent and yet so unknown. It's interesting.

I'll try to get this fic updated weekly or so-i'm curious to see how it's recieved, if at all. Either way i'll keep writing it; I have to keep this obsession happy somehow.

* * *

"Ugh..."

The man's eyes slowly opened, blinking and furrowing his eyebrows. He could hear a faint, melodious sound coming from somewhere, but it was too hard to focus on it-his head was pounding.

Just as his vision began to sluggishly clear, there was a loud 'swish' sound from above and the melody from before now seemed much too loud and chipper. He felt hungover, almost, but he'd never been much of a drinker...

He sat up, eyes widening as he surveyed his surroundings.

It was difficult to comprehend everything when his head felt so heavy, but he was certainly positive he had no idea where he was-A cold, seemingly-pristine and clean room with a tile floor and glass walls..and no exit, obvious or not. There was a toilet next to the wall (Or that's what he guessed it was), and a small stool in the corner, on top of which a clipboard and radio sat. And he was sitting in..some kind of pod. He climbed out cautiously, glancing back at it.

He'd been in there, apparently, sleeping..?

He was getting a little frightened now, and angry; Where was he? Was this some kind of joke? Why wasn't he at home, in..

He froze.

Where..was home?

Where was his home? He'd had one before this, hadn't he?

He stared at the ground below his feet, his eyes wide. He didn't know. He didn't know where his home was, and he didn't know...who HE was.

His hands were shaking now, and he took a deep breath. _Calm down. _There had to be a reason to all this..Maybe he was in a hospital, a new, improved one? But then, why? How long had he been out?

Looking down at himself, he realized he didn't recognize his clothing, either-an orange jumpsuit that cut off just above his ankles. A white strip across the breast pocket read 'APERTURE'. And there were some weird contraptions on his legs-Metal rungs that dipped just under his heel and were strapped to the back of his knees. They didn't seem to hinder his movement at all, but he didn't know what their function was supposed to be, either.

He took a few steps into the tiny room, picking up the clipboard from the tiny table-maybe it would give him some answers.

APERTURE SCIENCE TEST SUBJECT PARTICIPANT FORM

TEST SUBJECT NAME: UNKNOWN

UID: #77864404856839207865432345758439485748372820...

AGE: 24

He frowned down at the yellow sheet. It didn't even have his name; just a ridiculously long number of 60 something digits. Twenty-four years old...

A dart of pain shot through his head and the clipboard clattered to the floor. He gripped his head for a moment as the pain faded, taking a few deep breaths.

"Hello, and again, Welcome to the Aperture Science Computer Aided Enrichment Center.."

The man jumped at the sudden voice that intruded into his small room, completely cutting through the radio's jazzy tune. He immediately whirled around, looking for the source, but he didn't see any sort of intercom anywhere.

"We hope your brief detention in the relaxation vault has been a pleasant one."

"Where am I?" He asked, assuming that as long as he could hear it, it could hear him. It didn't seem human-the voice was pitched like a female, but clearly computerized, so he wasn't exactly expecting for an answer, and was surprised when the voice paused and then replied:

"As I stated before, you are in the Apertu-"

"Yes, but where IS this place?W-Why am I here? In an...Enrichment Center?" his voice came out much more distressed than he intended. What WAS an Enrichment Center, anyway?

"You were signed up to be a test participant and are now the property of Aperture Science." the voice stated tonelessly, completely avoiding his question. "Once you have completed the tests, you will receive cake and grief counseling and be free to leave."

The man raised an eyebrow. Tests? What kind of tests? He couldn't even remember who he was, he doubted he'd be good for any test-taking right now..

And when was the last time he'd eaten? Cake sounded delicious right now. It felt like he hadn't eaten in weeks..

"Wait," he said, suddenly, hotly. "I'm not property, I'm a human being! I shouldn't-I mean-I didn't sign up for anything like this-"

"As previously stated, you were signed up for the Aperture Science Enrichment Center Tests. Your specimen has been processed, and we are now ready to begin the test proper."

Once again, the computer had completely failed to answer his question.

"What kind of test?" he asked suspiciously. He had all kinds of questions to ask, but he was fairly sure the computer wouldn't answer them-honestly, anyway. All he could do now was go along with it...What other choice did he have?

"Fun and learning are the main goals of Enrichment Center tests, however serious injury may occur. For your own safety, and the safety of others.."

The man furrowed his eyebrows, frowning. So there were others here..besides the computer. That was a relief..

"..The portal will open in 3..2...1."

He heard an undistinguishable sound next to him-like a...'bloop'? And turned just in time to see a bright orange oval appear on the wall next to the pod . It took up the whole wall.

He stared at it, then slowly took a few steps so he was peeking in it. Was it some sort of mirror...? He could see himself, trapped inside the room, a few feet away. Tentatively, he reached out a hand, touching the surface.

It went right through.

He grimaced, pushing his hand the whole way through and then bringing it back. Nothing had happened-His arm was perfectly fine, and pushing it through the orange oval was effortless.

Squaring his shoulders, he stepped through.

It was like walking through a door-nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Still, What was that thing...

What exactly was this place?


	2. Chambers 0209

Man, I am SO sorry about how late this chapter is! My laptop crashed. I'm very very very unhappy with this chapter; It's so difficult to make it interesting enough to where it's not just a game walkthrough. I tried to churn more of his personality into this, but yeah, it was hard. So any feedback or advice would be greatly appreciated! I'm so glad this story got reviewed twice-I thought no one would even read it xD

So yeah, Even though I'M not happy with it, I hope it keeps your interest. Enjoy!

* * *

"Unbelievable. You, 'subject name here' must be the pride of 'subject hometown here'."

The man glared up at the ceiling. He still had no idea where the computer's voice was coming from-there were no speakers anywhere. But after five tests or so, he reasoned it came from somewhere around that area.

The tests had been mindlessly easy so far; after acquiring what the voice called an 'Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device' it'd been as simple as going into one 'portal' and coming out the other. Something had been bothering him, though: There were frosted glass windows everywhere, overlooking everything..and yet he could see no one behind them. There were computers, chairs, tables-But no people. After he'd seen the first window, he'd hoped to be able to somehow contact whoever was behind it, but there was no one there...It gave him a very bad feeling in his gut, and raised questions that he had no answers for.

And although the dizziness he'd experienced from before had subsided, his suspicion over waking up in this strange place had only gotten stronger. The computer refused to answer any of his queries, even though it'd already been established that she-it, could hear him. Not to mention this place had yet to be any 'fun' and he wasn't 'learning' anything...

* * *

He glanced up at the large sign as it flickered to life, signifying this test as number eight.

"Keep in mind that we have added a consequence for failure. Any contact with the chamber floor will result in an unsatisfactory mark on your official testing record..."

He snorted.

"Followed by death."

His eyes widened and his head snapped up to glare at the ceiling.

"Death?! Wh-"

"Good luck." The computer's voice crackled and was gone.

He closed his eyes, taking a few steps out onto the railing. The floor below him wasn't even solid-it was a pool of greenish-brown liquid, from which clouds of...steam? Smoke? Swirled up from. He didn't even know what it WAS. Acid, maybe? He'd never seen real acid..or he couldn't remember seeing it, anyway.

The test itself wasn't so much of a puzzle as a challenge of aim and perception. He finished and got to the other railing easily.

"Very impressive. Please note that any appearance of danger is merely a device to enhance your testing experience."

_Yeah, right._ It was surprising how much he was adapting to this environment-or his brain, was, anyway. It took him only a second of looking at his surroundings to figure out what he needed to do to get to succeed. It was...nice...or, no!

Disturbing!

He had a life outside of this, didn't he?

He bit his lip as he stepped into the elevator. "Do I get to take a break, at some point?"

No answer. He could assume from the signs that there were 19 tests total, and if they got harder and harder-as appeared to be the pattern-then think about how _long_that'd take. When would he eat? Or bathe? He knew the human body could survive solely on water alone for quite a bit, but he hadn't seen any water (that was drinkable, anyway) and he couldn't remember when he'd last eaten. Would he even survive through these tests? Would he die here, alone and forgotten?

_No_, he thought. _I_ will _survive_. _And I'll get out of this place and find out-_

His train of thought was cut off by the swish of the elevator opening.

"The Enrichment Center regrets to inform you that this next test, is impossible. Make no attempt to solve it."

He stepped into the main chamber, blinking and gazing around. "No it isn't."

The voice didn't answer.

Shrugging, he shot a portal behind the cube that fell to the ground, headed through it, set the cube down on the platform...

"The Enrichment Center apologizes for this clearly broken test chamber."

..Headed back through the portal, pulled the cube through, set it on the button.

"Fantastic! You remained resolute and resourceful in an atmosphere of extreme pessimism."

He couldn't help but feel a little bit of triumph from this, and shook his head quickly.

"You will now be transported back to your Relaxation Chamber for a brief stay."


	3. Naptime

Wow, i suck i know. For how long it's been, this chapter should be super long and awesome, and it totally isn't ;o;

I actually had the draft for this written a long time ago, and i just wasn't happy with it. I edit'd the crap out of it and to me it still seems to go too fast and not explain what i'd like it to, but..this was the best i ended up with.

Sorry for the huge delay and short chapter D;  


* * *

He was in the elevator when it happened.

He was simply glaring ahead, waiting to be dropped off at his 'relaxation chamber', his mind working a mile a minute. There was never a moment here when he wasn't thinking, when his shoulders weren't tense and his eyes weren't wide, ready for anything.

And then, in a flash, it came: a loud, siren-like screech in his ears, pulsing through his brain.

The portal gun fell to the floor with a clatter and he gave a grunt of pain as he collapsed to his knees. He gripped his head, his chest; he braced his palms against the wall. He found that he couldn't stop, and his breath came in short bursts. A terror was gripping his mind-suddenly he just needed to be out of this box, this room, this place, _free_.

The pain seemed endless and the hours seemed to fly by as he crouched there, willing away the pain, trying to fill his lungs and calm his erratic nerves. And very, very slowly, it seemed to work. The nightmare faded away, the ringing in his ears dulled.

Carefully he opened his eyes, feeling the warm trails of tears down his cheeks.

The elevator was open, and he could hear HER voice trailing on, far away and muffled by his now throbbing headache. He caught his breath for the moment, letting his eyes adjust and slowly the silence returned.

He glanced around slowly, a sick feeling uncurling in his stomach as his gaze found scratches on the wall-scratches made by his hands. There was blood there, too, and upon looking at his fingers he found that they were bleeding stumps, the nails worn down and the tips freshly cut.

He tore his eyes away from the sight, sticking a finger in his mouth and sucking them clean as he stood. His brain was still harried; still nervous and jolting, but at least the pain, whatever it had been, was gone for now.

His hands were shaking. He picked up the portal gun from where it had fallen, biting his lip as a twinge of pain shot through his head.

He could feel himself slipping; losing his sense of awareness, falling back into the darkness from before. Into that person who could think of nothing but escape. He shook himself, feeling a shudder crawl up his spine.

_I have to get out of here._

It was almost like he could feel the insanity watching over his shoulder, waiting for a slip-up.

He took a deep shuddering breath, using the wall to push him up where he stood. He could see a portal to his relaxation chamber awaiting him, a small walkway circling around and leading to the glass cube. He frowned, stepping out of the elevator.

As soon as his feet left the ground, the elevator doors closed and flew up and away. Cocking an eyebrow, he stepped over, looking up the shaft and then down into the depths below.

Nothing but darkness.

The computer hadn't spoken yet, so maybe it was safe to assume that she-it was attending to other matters, torturing OTHER people. His eyebrows met in the middle of his forehead.

_This place is getting to me. One slip, one weakness..and you're gone and dead. I can't...I won't..._

He shot a portal down the elevator shaft. The sound of it bouncing off and failing to land met his ears.

"Please proceed into the relaxation chamber."

He was no longer surprised by the sound of her voice and simply turned his head to the ceiling. He could feel a wicked smile crawl across his face.

_It's escape or death._

"No."

And taking a breath, he jumped into the elevator shaft.

* * *

Cliffhanger! Please give me some constructive criticism on this chapter, if you would. c:


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